Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Deathly Hallows is everywhere

Last Night, Flightpath:

A woman arriving with a friend to study sees me reading and exclaims, "Oh my God, that's The New One!" She asks me about it. She explains that she did not pre-order a copy, and is concerned that it will be sold-out, and someone will spoil its surprises before she has a chance to read it.

A couple arrives to read books together. She is also reading The New One. She and I discuss resisting the temptation to skip ahead. I describe a friend who I spoke to earlier in the day, who had shamelessly announced that she bought hers and "went right for the epilogue." The woman I'm speaking with suggests a magical charm should keep pages you haven't read in sequence covered in wax.

A young college-aged couple walk past me on their way out. The man is carrying a full back-pack, the woman wears a sorority t-shirt and has the book under her arm. She smiles and tips her copy at me as they walk past.

This afternoon, Epoch

An older couple sit down next to each other and open the book between them. They explain that they read it this way because neither wants the other to get ahead. They giggle quietly several times while reading.

A younger, maybe college-aged woman sits down on the couch next to us, remarking that this shall now be the Harry Potter corner of the building.

Two other individuals are seen walking around in the other room, each with a copy.

On my way out, another woman, maybe a little younger than me and multiply-pierced, who was not holding a copy of the book, asked if I was leaving because I was finished. I told her I was just stopping for now. I asked if she was also reading it. Nope, she finished last night, less than 24 hours after it had gone in sale. I ask what she thought of it, and she says this.